(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus for currency validation, and more specifically to an improvement of the apparatus for currency validation which has its structure to facilitate maintenance or inspection thereof.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
An apparatus for currency validation is equipped in a bill handling machine such as currency exchanging or vending machine installed indoor or outdoor. The machine comprises a validator for identifying authenticity of bills inserted therein and a stacker for storing accumulated bills considered authentic by the validator. In most of the bill handling machines, the validator is mounted in driving connection to the stacker and secured to an inner surface of a door panel of the machines so that bills may be received by the validator through an inlet formed in an fixing panel of the machine. Equipped with the validator is a belt-pulley arrangement for transporting the inserted bill through a position in the vicinity of a sensor to the stacker. The sensor comprises optical or magnetic detector which converts physical features of the bill into electric signals then forwarded to a central processing unit.
However, when creased or previously folded bills are put into the inlet of the validator, there are some cases where the belt-pulley arrangement fails to transport these bills to the stacker due to jamming thereof on the passageway through which the bills are conveyed. In particular, the bills are carried through different belt-pulley arrangements respectively mounted in the validator and stacker. Sometimes, the conveyed bill clogs at the transitional interconnection of these belt-pulley arrangements. Also, when an adhesive agent is attached to an inserted bill or inner surface of the passageway for bills within the validator, the bill is adhesively secured to the inner surface of the passageway or to the belt-pulley arrangement, and it is jammed or stopped to be transported. Once a bill is stuck or jammed on the passageway, the validator or stacker must be opened to remove the stuck or jammed bill therefrom.
In a prior art bill handling apparatus, the stacker is mounted below an underside of the validator so that the jammed bill can be removed from the passage after disassembling the validator and stacker. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,562, a currency handling machine comprises a validator and a deposit container attached to an underside of the validator. However, in a recent bill handling apparatus, the stacker is mounted over the validator to reduce volume of occupation for the apparatus. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,722,519 and 4,765,607 describe improved banknote stackers each of which includes upper and lower housings having molded fingers and slots for interconnection with a banknote validator, and banknote transport apparatus provided with a self adjusting belt-pulley arrangement. When the banknote is jammed on the way of transport by the belt-pulley arrangement, the machine must be disassembled to remove the jammed banknote. Accordingly, it is very difficult to readily remove the jammed bill from the passageway within the validator which can be disassembled after removal of the stacker mounted over the validator, and necessary parts must be disassembled in both of the validator and stacker, thus requiring time-consuming and burdensome operation.